[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 102 (Friday, May 27, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30755-30756]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-10660]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Administration for Children and Families


Notice of Public Comment on the Proposed Adoption of ANA Program; 
Policies and Procedures

AGENCY: Administration for Native Americans (ANA).

SUMMARY: Pursuant to section 814 of the Native American Programs Act of 
1974; as amended, 42 U.S.C., 2991b-1, the Administration for Native 
Americans (ANA) herein describes its proposed interpretive rules, 
general statement of policy and rules of agency procedure or practice 
in relation to the Social and Economic Development Strategies (SEDS) 
project SMART NA Communities (Strengthening Marriages and Relationships 
in Tribal and Native American Communities). For FY 2005, ANA reserved 
an amount of funding under the SEDS program to fund projects that are 
beneficial to the development of healthy Native American communities. 
ANA has decided to participate in ACF's Healthy Marriage Initiative, 
and intends to use the reserved SEDS funds to support projects that 
improve child well-being by removing barriers associated with forming 
and retaining healthy families and marriages in Native American 
communities. Under the statute, ANA is required to provide members of 
the public an opportunity to comment on proposed changes in 
interpretive rules, statements of general policy, and rule of agency 
procedure or practice and to give notice of the final adoption of such 
changes at least 30 days before the changes become effective. The 
notice also provides additional information about ANA's plan for 
administering the programs.

DATES: The deadline for receipt of comments is 30 days from date of 
publication in the Federal Register.

ADDRESSES: Comments in response to this notice should be addressed to 
Sheila Cooper, Director of Programs Operations, Administration for 
Native Americans, 370 L'Enfant Promenade, SW., Mail Stop: Aerospace 8--
West, Washington, DC 20447. Delays may occur in mail delivery to 
Federal offices; therefore, a copy of comments should be faxed to: 
(202) 690-7441. Comments will be available for inspection by members of 
the public at the Administration for Native Americans, Aerospace 
Center, 901 D Street, SW., Washington, DC 20447.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sheila Cooper, toll free at (877) 922-
9262.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 814 of the Native American Programs 
Act of 1974 (the Act), as amended, requires ANA to provide notice of 
its proposed interpretive rules, statements of policy and rule of 
agency organization, procedure or practice. These proposed 
clarifications, modifications and new text will appear in the ANA FY 
2005 program announcements: SEDS--SMART NA Communities.

Additional Information

1. General

    This SEDS SMART NA Communities program area incorporates a majority 
of the requirements as contained in the SEDS program announcement. 
There are a few instances where ANA has opted to change the request for 
information for this program area only. The differences are noted 
below.

2. Evaluation Criteria

    The Impact Indicators, as established in the FY 2005 SEDS program 
announcement under ANA Evaluation Criteria Five, will be used for this 
demonstration project except for the following: (2) Number of codes or 
ordinances developed and implemented; (3) number of people to 
successfully complete a workshop/ training; (8) number of community-
based small businesses established or expanded; (9) identification of 
Tribal or Village government business, industry, energy or financial 
codes or ordinances that were adopted or enacted; and (10) number of 
micro-businesses started. ANA does not believe that the capture of this 
data will affect the impact or demonstrate the success of the grants. 
The number of suggested ANA Impact Indicators has been reduced to five 
indicators. (Legal authority: Section 803(a) and (d), 803B and 803C of 
the Native Americans Programs Act of 1974, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 2991b, 
2991b-2 and 2991b-3).

3. ANA Funding Restrictions

    ANA will use the Funding Restrictions established under the FY 2005 
SEDS program announcement, except for the following: Core 
Administration has been modified to remove the last sentence ``Under 
Alaska SEDS projects, ANA will consider funding core administrative 
capacity building projects at the village government level if the 
village does not have governing systems in place.'' and ``Projects that 
do not further the three interrelated ANA goals of economic 
development, social development and governance or meet the purpose of 
this program announcement.'' This demonstration project is not 
associated with the Alaska SEDS program area nor is it intended to 
interrelate to the goals of economic development, social development or 
governance. (Legal authority: Sections 803(a) and (d) and 803C of the 
Native Americans Programs Act of 1974 as amended, 42 U.S.C. 2991b and 
2991b-3 and 45 CFR 1336.33)

4. Administrative Policies

    ANA will be using the administrative policies as included in the FY 
2005 SEDS program announcement except: ``An applicant can have only one 
active ANA SEDS grant operating at any given time'' and ``Applicants 
proposing an Economic Development project must address the project's 
viability. A business plan, if applicable, must be included to describe 
the project's feasibility, cash flow and approach for the 
implementation and marketing of the business.'' Neither of these 
policies apply to this program. Special initiative awards such as this 
program will be issued a SEDS grant number and therefore an entity will 
be able to administer a regular SEDS award in addition to this project. 
Business development and the promotion of economic development are not 
components of this demonstration. (Legal authority: Sections 803(a) and 
(d) and 803C of the Native American Programs Act of 1974, as amended, 
and 45 U.S.C. 2991b and 2991b-3).

5. Funding Thresholds

    The funding threshold for this demonstration project will be 
$50,000.00 (floor amount) to $150,000.00 (ceiling amount) per budget 
period. Applications exceeding the $150,000.00 threshold will be 
considered non-responsive and will not be considered for funding under 
this announcement. (Legal authority: Sections 803(a) and (d) and 803C 
of the Native American Programs Act of 1974, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 
2991b and 2991b-3.)


[[Page 30756]]


    Dated: May 24, 2005.
Kimberly Romine,
Deputy Commissioner, Administration for Native Americans.
[FR Doc. 05-10660 Filed 5-26-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4184-01-P